Jay Taft: Chicago Bears’ D-line growing like O-line did last year

Sunday

Jul 27, 2014 at 8:07 PMJul 27, 2014 at 8:07 PM

By Jay TaftRockford Register Star & The Journal-Standard

BOURBONNAIS — Remember what it was like to watch the Bears’ offensive line morph from a sieve-like unit that was one of the worst in the league to a productive, sometimes impenetrable, wall in front of Chicago’s quarterback?

The same may be unfolding on the other side of the ball at training camp.

An offensive line that gave up 44 sacks in 2012, 49 in 2011 and a league-low 56 in 2010, surrendered just 30 last season, tied for the fourth-best in the NFL. The passing game was better than ever, setting franchise records with 4,281 yards through the air and 32 passing touchdowns.

Running back Matt Forte benefited from better line play as well, racking up career-highs in rushing yards (1,339) and in receptions (74 for 594 yards) last year.

Rookies Kyle Long and Jordan Mills entrenched themselves into the starter’s role at right guard and right tackle, respectively. Veteran Roberto Garza brought the group together and kept them cohesive, and new Bears Matt Slauson and Jermon Bushrod solidified the left side.

The Bears were one of three teams in the NFL to start the same front five in all 16 games. Barring injuries, they hope to do the same this year. However, no one’s getting complacent up there.

“I felt like I had to prove myself as a rookie, and I still have a lot to prove,” Mills said. “Last year is last year. I had a very good year, but we’re moving on. I can’t think about what we did last year. The pressure is always on no matter what.”

In the off-season the pressure was on the personnel staff to shore up the other side of the line. There were holes at safety and linebacker, but the gaps on the line needed the most patchwork.

Enter free agents Jared Allen, Willie Young and Lamar Houston, and draft-day additions Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton, the team’s second- and third-round picks. Now, after the first three days of training camp — with the pads going on for the first time Sunday — the defensive line for Chicago appears to be going through a similar transformation the other side of the line did last year.

“I tell you what, we have huge amounts of competition on our D-line,” second-year defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said after Sunday’s practice. “We’ve got a lot of guys who have done a lot of good things.”

Now the trick is to piece it all together to form one solid unit.

Allen’s history speaks for itself. He is a five-time Pro Bowler who has racked up double-digit sacks in eight of his 10 seasons, topped off with 22 in 2011, a half-sack shy of Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record.

And he’s found a way to stay healthy — something Bears’ D-linemen had trouble with last year — starting all 16 games in all six of his seasons in Minnesota. He adds a bit of attitude, and warrants a whole lot of respect, to Chicago’s front line of defenders.

He was in the backfield consistently once the pads went on.

“He’s one of the most dominant pass rushers in the league. To play opposite of him, that’s an honor,” Houston said. “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to play with someone of his caliber, but I think it’s really just going to help us overall as a defense get better and improve to be where we want to be.”

So, too, could Houston and Young, who have appeared sharp and well-studied from the moment they arrived in Bourbonnais. Jeremiah Ratliff, a 6-foot-4, 303-pound washout in Dallas, played in five games last year after rehabbing a previous injury, but he’s looked like a beast who can stuff things up inside.

Stephen Paea and Nate Collins, two of those injured D-linemen from last season, seem ready to be a part of the rebuild as well.

“It’s a different feel up there this year, for sure,” Paea said, smiling. “A better different feel. We all feel like we have something to contribute, and we all feel like it’s going to be a different kind of year this year.”

Ferguson and Sutton are still finding their way around the defense, but they’ve had their brief moments to shine: Sutton plowed into QB Jordan Palmer’s lap midway through Sunday’s workout after a nice spin move.

D-ends Trevor Scott and Austen Lane have shots at roster spots, too, making this one of the deepest units on the team.

So what is Tucker looking for when it comes time to separate the starters from the subs for this year’s Bears’ defense?

“I want to see our brand of football, which is best-conditioned, technique and fundamentals, smart, fast and physical,” he said. “That’s what we need to be, and we have to work to be that each and every day out here.

“We’ll find those who want to play that way, and that’s who will be out there.”